Knowing what you know right now, how will the team fare in 2018? (Poll)

Knowing what you know right now, how will the team fare in 2018?

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Dano564

Dano564

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Knowing what you know right now, how will the team fare in 2018? (Poll)
 

Just calling it a poll then? Or didn't it come up on Safari?

There it is. Thanks.
 



Good one. I voted for 6. I think the passing game will be much more competent with Viramontes and the influx of talent at WR. That alone should garner 1 more win in my mind. I'm worried about continuity on the OL as well as the loss of Richardson on D, but I believe year 2 in the new schemes should be a lot smoother in general. I think 7 or 8 wins isn't out of the question, but I'll go with 6.

BTW, since you're in the poll starting mood, here's one I've wanted to start but am too lazy to do so: Will PJ Fleck succeed or fail? I was thinking by the end of the 2020 regular season, will he have achieved at least one 10+ win regular season, 9 win regular season, 8 win regular season (return to new status quo), none of the above. I'm sort of sick of people on this board taking shots at Fleck, his culture, his shoes, his slogans, etc., but then saying, "Hey, nobody is calling for him to fired" or "I still HOPE he succeedsl..I just don't like him or don't think he will," I'd love to know where people stand. Will he achieve what he says or not?
 


New quarterback, young players, we may win 3 games.
 

I am going to say 8 wins but I am very concerned about our lack of linemen. I agree with those who are excited about our WR...surely our QB position can improve and we will have some playmakers back who are a year older...and it looks like we are going to have some come in too. I like Fleck's recruiting and it seems like his class is excellent and he is getting a strong group of PWOs. But depth...another concern.
 


A lot is riding on the assumption that PJ himself will gROW into the position, which at this point I have no reason to think he won't.

7 wins is a fair expectation I think. I hope to see more of an emphasis on on-the-field results next year, as opposed to this year which seemed much more concerned with 'culture' and foundation-laying, as irritating as that was to many (including me).
 



I don't know how much is it about PJ growing.
I think it's more on getting better players and more depth for the future.
 

No idea.

QB ... all depends on having a QB ... or like this year not so much.
 

I'd venture to say 7 wins plus/minus 2 wins. I am worried about how both the O-Line & D-Line will perform.
 




I said 5, lots of variables and a lot of young guys that need to play. Thinking that they could have better play towards the end of the year instead of worse as this year was and it should be fun. I think the +\- as stated before of 2 wins is in play as well.
 

Oof, this is a REALLY difficult question. Our schedule is much more difficult next year. Without a deep dive into returning players and production eg from Bill Connelly it’s a lot of guessing.

Fresno State had to play Alabama and Washington and finished 9-3. Just beat Boise. New Mexico State and Miami aren’t pushovers - they both finished with much better S&P+ rankings than the Gophers or our noncon opponents in 2017.

Looking at the Big Ten slate Maryland will very likely be better at QB. Iowa is going to be really good I fear. Nebraska has the talent to be MUCH better than they are. Purdue is no longer a gimme. Illinois will be a year older. NW will probably be worse after losing Thorson but no gimme. Ohio State, Wisconsin return a lot.

On our side we have an elite running QB coming in but we have no idea if he can produce via the pass any better than recent QBs or more importantly anyone to catch his passes. The offensive line should be getting better. Do we have a decent tight end on the roster? We have one proven receiver and some promising young guys I’m excited about. We have some talent coming in at RB.

The defensive line will likely be worse in the middle but guys getting older on the edges. The secondary should be be better but there are question marks everywhere with guys coming off serious injuries. Linebacker was alternately inspiring and horrid this year but still have good talent there in Coughlin, Cashman, and Barber getting older and better. We lose impact players off the defense.

I don’t know, after seeing the **** show we put out there this year I’m much less enthusiastic than I was prior to the season. Tougher schedule without a single patsy (Illinois?). Just as many question marks and arguably more on the roster next year.

OTOH, young guys should be better. Frankly I’ll be really happy if we can get 6 wins. Unless we improve dramatically it could be a 3-4 win season while we get better and older for 2019.
 


Halsey Hall said:
That's what you want
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No. I like to see the Gophers win. However, our OL will be young, with an unproven QB. Our DL is losing the heart and soul of the line and replacing it with little experience.
Only against non-B1G teams will we have a chance to control the line of scrimmage.
 

I say 3 wins. It’s going to suck. And for the record I am still squarely in the boat


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

I'll say 6 wins, plus or minus 4 depending on a number of factors.

Hey - I'm starting to get how things work here!
 


Spoofin said:
Last year if someone made a high win prediction they wanted the Gophers to fail. This year the opposite?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

We're not sure. Not all of the "want Fleck to fail" voters voted.
 


I see 5 wins unfortunately. I just don't see enough to get me excited that PJ can develop players or even that the team has bought into his cult of personality yet. At this point, I see way more Tim Brewster than Nick Saban in him. That said, I am hoping for a big recruiting class and improvement in the quality of play even if the win/loss total does not improve. I thought we were past the moral victory stage at this point but I will take what I can get. It seemed like the team quit on PJ at the end of the season. Interesting to see if he can keep the team if they struggle early.
 

I voted 7 but honestly I have no idea. A lot will come down to QB play.
 

I think next year could be similar to this year in terms of W's and L's. I'll start by saying, the Gophers still have the problem of going in to the majority of their conference games losing the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. For years, we haven't been able to get pressure rushing just 4 or stopping the run with just 7. Offensively, our line rarely can push anyone around. Again, these aren't new problems under Fleck and I don't think they can be changed in just two years. So we lose Wright, Calhoun, and Connelly on the OL and replace them with? We have to hope that Andries is a stud as redshirt Freshman and maybe we add a JUCO OT to bookend with Greene (buzz I've heard is Andries will play guard). On the Dline, we lose Richardson, Jackson, and Stelter from a Dline that was far from a strength and replace them with? Gary Moore flashed at times which is reason for some optimism, but I am skeptical of OJ Smith. Smith might be great, but usually guys who transfer due to lack of playing time are not world beaters, even if they come from Alabama. I think it's likely we will be worse on the Dline in '18 and I hope for improvement on the Oline but expect it to come more from better health/continuity than any actual infusion of talent which limits how much they will improve.

Of course the other big issue is QB. I would encourage anyone who hasn't, to look at the box scores from Vic's season at JUCO: http://www.rccathletics.com/sports/fball/2017-18/schedule He had multiple games where he passed for under 100 yards, and in the last two games of his season, he threw a combined 5 interceptions. That isn't to say Vic isn't a good QB or won't be a good QB at Minnesota, just that he had some ugly games at the JUCO level this year and will be taking a massive step up in competition while throwing to what projects to be a very young group of WR's.
 

billy bremner said:
I'll say 6 wins, plus or minus 4 depending on a number of factors.

Hey - I'm starting to get how things work here!
Click to expand...

I think you might be sarcastic, but I think the plus/minus (representing uncertainty) is the highest its been for a while
 

EG#9 said:
I think next year could be similar to this year in terms of W's and L's. I'll start by saying, the Gophers still have the problem of going in to the majority of their conference games losing the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball. For years, we haven't been able to get pressure rushing just 4 or stopping the run with just 7. Offensively, our line rarely can push anyone around. Again, these aren't new problems under Fleck and I don't think they can be changed in just two years. So we lose Wright, Calhoun, and Connelly on the OL and replace them with? We have to hope that Andries is a stud as redshirt Freshman and maybe we add a JUCO OT to bookend with Greene (buzz I've heard is Andries will play guard). On the Dline, we lose Richardson, Jackson, and Stelter from a Dline that was far from a strength and replace them with? Gary Moore flashed at times which is reason for some optimism, but I am skeptical of OJ Smith. Smith might be great, but usually guys who transfer due to lack of playing time are not world beaters, even if they come from Alabama. I think it's likely we will be worse on the Dline in '18 and I hope for improvement on the Oline but expect it to come more from better health/continuity than any actual infusion of talent which limits how much they will improve.

Of course the other big issue is QB. I would encourage anyone who hasn't, to look at the box scores from Vic's season at JUCO: http://www.rccathletics.com/sports/fball/2017-18/schedule He had multiple games where he passed for under 100 yards, and in the last two games of his season, he threw a combined 5 interceptions. That isn't to say Vic isn't a good QB or won't be a good QB at Minnesota, just that he had some ugly games at the JUCO level this year and will be taking a massive step up in competition while throwing to what projects to be a very young group of WR's.
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Yeah, Ta’amu last year looked like a much more polished passer with scrambling ability and conversely Viramontes looks better as a scrambler but an unknown as a passer. He seems to have the toolbox to be good but so much of being really good is in the think box. I still wish we had taken Taamu but that’s a stain on the Claeys legacy. What could have been.

As we’ve seen this year a huge part of how a QB looks on paper is the talent around him so we can’t know if Viramomtes stats are deceiving or if he will struggle. Have to trust the coaches. A lot will depend on the protection and the receivers. Lee at Nebraska grew a little bit as the year went on and he had awful stats coming into the Big Ten. Of course he had some really good receivers to throw to... not related but USC and Stanford put on a QB/ receiver clinic last night - that was fun.
 

Regardless, we are looking at a middle finger salute for next year. :confused:

Where the finger shifts depend on how much our opponents improve in addition to all the question marks going into next year. IMHO, it won't be pretty as we'd like to think.

It will take time for our OL and DL to gel. How quickly they can do that will determine where the finger shifts up or down. If they totally flop, then we are really screwed for another season.

Hopefully the Gophers put their big boy pants on and roast a Hogeye next season!.
 

“Big boy pants” was a favorite Gary Andersen saying. Their fans mercilessly mocked it by the end.

2018 looks like it may be rough but I think with lowered expectations many of us will be happier fans next year than would have otherwise been the case (such as this year). Looks like he needs to build for 2019 and 2020 but it’s college football and anything can happen in 2018. Viramontes could be a revelation, the defense could surprise, etc etc. turnover magic., you never know.
 

MennoSota said:
New quarterback, young players, we may win 3 games.
Click to expand...

After this year, I see that as a positive. We've had some horrific play at QB. Had you said same QB, I'd be much more bearish on next season.
 

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